This is different from the requirement for automobile insurance as a condition of driving as this is only for damage to others. There is no requirement to cover damage to ones own automobile.

Government made the mess that we have in the market for medical services when it made medical insurance a tax free, form of pay or compensation for labor. This has grossly distorted the market and has us paying far, far too much for medical services.

The solution is to tax employer paid insurance as pay. This will force the medical industry to compete for the consumer’s dollar on a level playing field. We buy our clothing, shelter and the food that keeps us alive, in after tax dollars. There is no reason to buy medical insurance in pretax dollars. There is no more reason for employers to buy our medical insurance than to buy our food.
Government should end all mandates on what insurance should cover, all restrictions on the quantity of product and get out of the market entirely.

Only when consumers weigh cost and benefit and providers answer directly to consumers, will these outrageous prices come down to where they belong.

The mandate to buy insurance is an outrageous violation of fundamental human rights and is stupid economics. It will drive prices still higher and make a very bad situation far worse.

Almost no penalty can be great enough to force people to buy health insurance. Whether a flat fine or a percentage of the average cost of insurance, it will almost certainly be less than paying for insurance for a year (or ten years for young people) before the insurance is needed at which time the sand bagger simply buys into the group and the whole purpose of the mandate is defeated.

Good start to the article Steve, I looks forward to future parts.